Corvus no Naku Koro ni
by Fan Of Games
Summary: It's been a year since the Fourth Game between Ange's brother and Beatrice. She's finally moved on from the tragedy that befell her family and has now become Asmodeus' foster sister. While spending time at a fair one day, they become involved in a tale witches would never dare to play...or pen. Guest starring Celestia Ludenberg and Mokou from Dangan Ronpa and Touhou respectively.


**Since several other authors have written their own episodes of Umineko/Higurashi on this website, I decided to join the bandwagon and come up with one of my own. However, my story will feature a unique concept that moves away from the idea of games like the ones Battler and Beatrice play in favor of scenarios symbolic of horror stories written by literary figures such as Poe and Lovecraft. As this story progresses, I'll put in disclaimers for their works when they first appear and I'll try to limit the selection to only stories I've read and one per author. I'll also include a bit of background information from Wikipedia on the ones I incorporate along with my reasons for choosing them. **

**Celestia Ludenberg and Mokou from Dangan Ronpa and Touhou respectively shall feature as guest stars.**

**Just as a bit of background information, this story was originally called Karasu no Naku Koro ni until I discovered the name was already being used by a roleplaying group in the forums of a website called Snafu Comics. I have looked at the roleplay to see if my story would conflict with it, and fortunately it doesn't. So I changed Karasu to the Latin translation of crows/ravens since I wanted to avoid conflict with the roleplay and also because one of the characters will be related to ravens in the story—you'll see why when you read it. Furthermore, my fanfic takes place after Episode IV of Umineko so it's not related to the roleplay on Snafu Comics whatsoever.**

**And now without further ado, it's time to begin the tale of Corvus no Naku Koro ni.**

…

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you drop by. How are you on this fine night?"

"Have you recited the incantation? The one written on the sign?"

"You have? Excellent!"

"I take it you're here for the tales, correct?"

"Splendid! What kind of story do you wish to hear?"

"All of the one I have? Splendid!"

"Oh, would like a drink before we begin?"

"Very well, I shall have my assistant brew something up for you. Some tea perhaps?"

"You've already had some before coming to my carriage?"

"Oh, please do. I always have it made especially for story time."

"And don't forget to pay afterwards; our services don't come cheap, you know."

"Ah, looks like the tea's ready! Here, have a sip while I get started."

"Now then, which one shall I begin with today…?"

"You feel a little drowsy? It's quite alright since I understand you've had fun all night."

"Do try and stay awake, otherwise you won't…? Asleep already?"

"Never fear; I'll read you some bedtime stories while you drift away into slumber."

"Don't worry about any nightmares; they won't hurt you."

"Sweet dreams."

…

"Get the hell out, NOW!" Satan screamed in rage as she violently shoved the Stake of Greed out of her room. "I specifically told you not to touch my stuff, didn't I?! I can't stand it when you piss me off by refusing to follow simple instructions and acting like a total brat! Does everything I say go in one ear and out through the other?!"

"Gee, I'm so sorry, big sister," the Stake of Greed responded flippantly, and in a sarcastic tone of voice to boot. "Looks like I need to have my ears cleaned because everything you say doesn't seem to even go in them to begin with!"

"Or maybe it's because you disregard everything I tell you and purposely infuriate me!"

"Is that what it seems like?" Mammon teased, snickering like the small, mischievous child she always proved herself to be. "I don't know for sure to be honest. There must be some big potatoes in my ears!"

"Ooh, ooh, are they edible, Mammon?!" Beelzebub joined in at the mention of potatoes. "Can I bake sweet potatoes and cover them in gravy and dip them in ketchup and mustard?!"

Having already taken out Q-tips from the hall closet on her way to Satan's room, Mammon pulled one from the box and brought it up to her ear. She brushed the inside and removed the Q-tip a couple moments later with a piece of earwax stuck to it. "Here you go, Beelze! Fresh from the market!"

Beelzebub winced in disgust and stepped back. "Eww, no way, that's gross! I'd rather eat plain potatoes than that disgusting wad of filth!"

"Oh, not good enough I take it?" Mammon sneered and used another Q-tip for her other ear. "Here, I'll find a tastier one for yo—oooh! S-Satan, p-please stop! You're thrusting it deeper than it's supposed to go!"

"What's the matter, you little bitch?!" Satan shouted, hoping her loud voice would be enough to rupture the younger Stake's eardrums. "I thought you said they were fresh from the market! Didn't we hear you clearly enough!"

"I-I was joking, I-I swear!" Mammon protested in fright. "S-Satan, please I beg you! I don't want to go deaf!"

"Then I guess you won't need anything going in your ears at all!" her older sister yelled as Beelzebub ran out of the room and froze in the hall at the sight of their eldest sister, Lucifer.

"Luci!" Beelzebub called out and stepped out of her way before running downstairs.

"What the hell's going on in here now?!" the Stake of Pride shouted and rushed into the fray to pull her violent sibling off the Stake of Greed upon seeing Satan on the verge of killing Mammon yet again. "Get off of her! What the hell is wrong with you, Satan?!"

"Why am I the one in trouble?! She started it first and had the gall to act like a little shit!"

Lucifer looked to Mammon, who was still recovering from one of the scariest moments of her life. She had pulled the Q-tip out already and was gazing at it briefly with tears in her eyes before commenting as she looked up. "Aw, you bent it," she spoke sadly, without the insulting tone she had used just moments before. "That was a good Q-tip."

"Forget the Q-tip," Lucifer directed as she took the Q-tip and threw it in the garbage.

"Hey, that's wasteful!"

"How the hell is it wasteful when the damn thing's already broken?!" Satan retorted, one hand on her right hip as she leaned forward slightly and pointed to the wastebasket next to her desk. "I assume you're finished with it now since it's already covered in your earwax!"

Mammon opened her mouth to protest. "B-but—"

"ENOUGH!" Lucifer yelled at the top of her lungs to get her sisters' attention. "Both of you, stop fighting this instant! I've had with all this constant bickering between you two, and I know for a fact Ange is fed up with it as well! If you keep going at it, you'll both be sorry!"

Mammon looked down at the floor in shame at the mention of Ange's name and sniffled. Tears ran down her cheeks as she thought of her best friend discarding her again like at St. Lucia's, only this time it was for a different reason. This time it was because she'd instigated a conflict that ended up threatening her life—though it didn't really matter too much as Ange was the Witch of Resurrection and could revive her—and so she was the one to blame.

Satan was also at fault because she always got resorted to violence whenever she got mad. As of right now, she and Mammon were on thin ice because of their misbehavior. Ange certainly had a short temper when it came to their misconduct and had to put the two naughty Stakes in time outs on a daily basis to the point where they've been punished frequently. If this kept happening, they could kiss their lives with Ange goodbye for good.

Mammon didn't bother raising her head, or to even look Lucifer in the eyes from underneath her bangs. "I-I…I-I'm s-sorry…I-I…" she sniffled as her eldest sister looked at her for a few moments before turning to their other sibling.

"And you, Satan?"

The Stake of Wrath merely crossed her arms and turned her head to the side. "Yeah, yeah, whatever; I'm sorry, okay?"

Lucifer cocked her head to the side. "Doesn't sound like you mean it."

"Look," Satan began to say, "I already apologized, okay? I don't need to—"

Lucifer cut her off by grabbing the neckline of her jacket and yanked her close. "Doesn't sound like you mean it," she growled threateningly, glaring into her sister's now terrified face.

"O-okay, okay, I'm sorry! I really do mean it, I swear!"

Her older sibling let go of her and turned around, heading out the door. "That's better," she said as she walked into the hall, "now come on. We're waiting for you. If neither of you want to come with us to the fair, that's fine, but at least let us know. However, I'm sure Beelze has already told Ange what happened, so it's probably not up to you anymore."

The two Stakes turned to look at one another before following her. "Wait," the younger called, "we're coming too!"

As soon as the three of them were all downstairs with the rest of their sisters, Ange approached them and tilted her head sideways to gaze at Satan and Mammon. "I shouldn't have to guess who's responsible, do I?" Her words were cold and venomous, and filled with a touch of judgmental neutrality which was odd since she should've been angrier.

The two ashamed Stakes didn't speak. They simply nodded and looked down at the floor.

The nineteen year old witch sighed and shook her head, pressing a hand to her temple. "I don't even know what to do with you two anymore. I'm seriously tempted to just leave and call Haruka to babysit you again."

Mammon and Satan shrank back from her. Having the young college student next door come over and watch them was very demeaning. She'd been here to do that many times by now, each time coming over with several books to read while they just sat near her doing nothing.

That was what Ange expected them to do, but in reality Haruka let them read too so they wouldn't get bored. Sometimes she even tutored them. The young witch didn't have a problem with how her neighbor handled the girls. She supposed it was at least preferable to them bickering all the time.

"N-no, don't Miss Ange," Mammon said formally, afraid to talk so casually to her best friend when she was in trouble again. "We won't do it again."

"You always say that," Ange replied sternly with the gaze of an intimating gorgon that became mad when its lair was invaded, "but I take it this is the very last time you'll both fight?

The Stakes of Wrath and Greed saluted her. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

Ange nodded. "Good, let's just hope this really is the final dispute between you." Here she turned around and sauntered to the door, but suddenly halted and whirled around pointing a dramatic, accusatory finger at them. "Otherwise you'll face the consequences!"

The poor Stakes broke out in a brief, momentary cold sweat as they immediately nodded in agreement without saying another word. Ange took that as their submission and let the matter drop. They had more important things to think about.

"Alright," the witch declared as they all went out onto the porch to wait for Amakusa to pick them up, "I'd like for you all to heed me in regards to how we'll spend our time at the fair." The Seven Stakes paid attention while she continued to speak. "Now, as this place will be very large since it encompasses an entire pasture just on the outskirts on the other side of the city, we should split up into four groups of two to cover more ground. There will be some attractions you may not be interested in, but please show common courtesy to your partner and stay by her side so you don't get separated. We'll regroup by the main gate at nine p.m. tonight; be sure to get there at the appointed time, if not sooner. If you're late, we'll wait for five minutes before we look for you; in that event, we'll meet at 9:15 p.m."

"Hey, Ange," Leviathan inquired with her hand slightly raised, "should we determine who goes with who?"

Ange looked to the road and turned back upon seeing that Amakusa hadn't arrived yet, glancing at her watch for the time and saw that it was fifteen minutes to ten. "I suppose so since we have some time to wait for Amakusa. Though I'll leave that up to you guys."

"I can go with Satan," Lucifer replied while turning to the Stake of Wrath. "You wanted to see the pottery they'll have there, right?"

Satan nodded. "Yes, that can work. We could even look at some other stalls on our way there. From then on, I'd say we should wait to decide on where else to go until after we see the pottery. That sound good?"

"Sure," Lucifer nodded in agreement, "I'm fine with that."

"Okay," Ange spoke up as they all returned their attention to her. "That's Lucifer and Satan. How about the rest of you?"

"Oooh, I'd like to go to the petting zoo with Beelze!" Leviathan chirped. "I really would love to see all the animals there—oh, and I also want to see the wooden art they have for sale."

"Oh, absolutely!" Beelzebub squealed happily. "I so want to see all the cute little animals at the fair, and eat as much of the food at the concession stands!"

Ange sighed. Of course the Stake of Gluttony would think about her own stomach.

"Everything in moderation, Beelze; just don't spend too much money or else you'll have none to pay for souvenirs," Belphegor said after sighing in a manner similar to that of their best friend. "In any case, I'll stay with Mammon if only to make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Oh, come on, Belphe!" her younger sister protested in exasperated irritation. "I'm not four years old; you don't need to treat me like a child. I want to have fun too."

"There's nothing wrong with that," the Stake of Sloth crossed her arms while glancing towards the Stake of Greed. "I concede that you may enjoy yourself as much as you'd wish, but you do have a tendency to act immature and take your fun too far."

Mammon sighed in annoyance. "Fine, I'll be on my best behavior if Ange's with us."

"What about me?" Asmodeus protested. "Why do I have to go by myself?"

"Because you're always telling us you want to be treated like an adult," Mammon said as she made eye contact with her youngest sister. "You tell us you're a grown-up, but all you do is play with toys for little children and read those childish fairytales. Why don't you go by yourself if you want to prove you're old enough to hang out with us?"

"She does have a point," Satan agreed, looking to her sisters to see what they thought. "The groups might not be perfectly balanced, but it's still a good idea."

"How is it a good plan if I'm the only one who's not with somebody?!" Asmodeus cried, upset that her older sisters were ganging up on her as usual. "It's not fair that you all get to stay in groups while I'm on my own!"

"That's enough, Asmodeus," Lucifer ordered, coldly jabbing a finger at the Stake of Lust for a brief moment. "I understand it's unfair to you, but adults would face the facts and accept that not everything will go their way. If you don't like it, then stay home for all we care."

Ange sighed and pressed a hand to her temple as the other Stakes murmured in agreement with her. She hated how the Stakes picked on her because she was the youngest. They had no right to deny Asmodeus the opportunity to have fun by giving the poor girl an ultimatum that singled her out as the one receiving the shortest straw. The plan was to stay in pairs, not form a trio out of four remaining people by tipping the scales to add an extra individual in one group. The older Stakes managed to figure out who they'd stick with, but now it appeared the time for preparation was over with Asmodeus as the odd one out.

Ange despised how they belittled Asmodeus and ganged up on her. She also had been treated harshly by her aunt, Eva, and the bullies in school and she didn't like how nobody came to her aid when she needed.

Those memories brought up their falling out in the past, but Ange pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She couldn't cling to the past anymore; it was water under the bridge now. The young witch made up with the Stakes and Sakutaro, along with her cousin just a year ago and she moved on from her family's deaths. Ange felt that finding the truth wouldn't only brought more pain when it was meant to be closure. Without those chains weighing her down anymore, she finally learned to live for the present instead of trying to change the past to save her family.

Her life with the Stakes was so much fun. She enjoyed spending time with them, playing all sorts of games whenever she wasn't writing short stories for magazines she contributed to.

Ange especially loved her new little sister, Asmodeus, after having grown so close to her in such a short span of time. She understood how Asmodeus felt when she was teased by her sisters, so she adopted her into the Ushiromiya family let the young Stake to move into her room so they could share a special sisterly bond together. This created a safe environment where Asmodeus felt secure enough to share her problems with Ange without fear of being mocked. Although, another reason was so she and Asmodeus could snuggle together while they slept; Ange loved that a lot since it left a warm feeling in her heart. She'd do anything to protect her little sister and make her happy.

Tears welled up in Asmodeus' eyes as she sniffled and tried to protest further, but fortunately Ange took the opportunity to stand up for her to spare her from more torture. "That's enough from all of you!" she raised her voice, glaring at the older Stakes who all looked totally surprised at the sudden change in demeanor Ange exhibited. "I warn you, I shall not tolerate this disrespectful behavior towards Asmo! If this continues, the two of us will leave without you!"

The Stakes just stared at her, afraid of making the situation any worse. Fearful of angering the witch further, they quietly apologized for their behavior. However, Ange shook her head and wagged a finger at them. "No," she replied, "not to me; to Asmo, now."

They sighed and turned to their youngest sibling. "Sorry, Asmodeus," they said in unison.

Ange nodded. "Good," she said, glancing at the road when she heard a car pulling into the driveway. "Amakusa's here, so get in the car; and if I hear any of you were bad, I'm sending you home. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ange."

As her older sisters all went down to car, saying hello to Amakusa, Asmodeus tipped her head down in shame as a tear rolled gently down her cheek. Upon feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up into Ange's eyes.

"Is something the matter, Asmo? You're not upset about what your sisters said, are you?"

The Stake of Lust nodded sadly, fiddling with her fingers as she looked down again. "I'm sorry for not being able to defend myself, Ange."

"That's quite alright, Asmo," Ange assured her, putting her free hand on Asmodeus' other shoulder. "I understand you may not be able to handle them all on your own, but don't worry; I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"I know, but…" Asmodeus started, then hesitated before she finished her thought. "I hardly did anything to help."

"That's not true Asmo. You did your best and I'm proud of you."

The Stake of Lust shook her head. "But they listened to you; they'll never take heed of someone like me. I guess they were right; maybe I should stay home."

"Asmo, look at me."

Asmodeus did as she was told and made eye contact with Ange.

"It's not about who's right or wrong. It's not even a question about who they should pay attention to," Ange explained with a warm smile. "It's about doing what you believe is right and following your heart. I know for a fact that it's wrong to hurt somebody just because they're the youngest. You have it hard since you've got six older siblings, but that's why I adopted you. I love you more than anything in the world, Asmo. Nothing could be further from the truth. You are the best little sister I've ever had, and the only little sister I ever want."

Asmodeus sniffed and wiped her nose, smiling since Ange's words comforted her. "Thank you, Ange," she said softly as her big sister shut her eyes and grinned.

"You're quite welcome, Asmo," she happily replied while embracing the young Stake. "Here, have a hug."

Asmodeus wrapped her arms around Ange to hug her back. "I love you, Ange."

"I love you too, Asmo," Ange said, giving Asmodeus a tender kiss on her forehead. "Now let's go to the fair and have some fun."

"Yes, let's!" Asmodeus squealed, taking Ange's hand and running to the car with her.

…

Meanwhile, in the woods on the edge of their destination, an entirely different interlude was being written in stone.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

A young, teenage girl in her second year of high school was running for her life. She had opted to attend the fair a day before by cutting school and now found herself in a situation she was now trying to escape from. Her heart beat faster and faster at the sound of wings flapping in the sky above her as she frantically weaved through the trees, stumbling every so often over roots and stones. Earlier she once had the gall to look up, but immediately averted her attention at the sight of her pursuers.

Ravens…an entire horde of them.

They chased her throughout the forest as she made her way to what she hoped was a way out of this everlasting trap. She was so frightened she had forgotten to take the correct path back to the meadow after fleeing the abandoned lodge by the river. Now she was lost within these woods with no idea how to find the way out.

Her parents must've been worried sick for her safety since she had never returned home yesterday. Despite wanting to be saved, the girl knew she might not ever see her family again.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Panting heavily as she ducked under some low hanging branches for cover, the girl quickly hid behind a tree and brought her hands close to her chest. She looked behind herself and shut her eyes while breathing a small sigh of relief upon noticing the leaves above her. They provided a good blanket of shadows for hiding, so the girl chose to wait there for the ravens to fly away. Unfortunately, she failed to notice another presence beside her until it was too late.

When she opened her eyes several moments later, the girl screamed in terror at the sight of a raven perched on a branch next to her. She tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground in an attempt to escape, but luckily managed to break into a sprint as the birds suddenly missed when they tried to descend upon her. About ten minutes later she caught her left foot on her right one again, tumbling headfirst into a patch of daisies down a short incline ahead.

"You've been a bad girl."

"Wha—"

She whipped her head up to see another girl who looked a tad older than her leaning against a tree. She recognized her voice and the medieval clothing she wore along with the small casket strapped to her back. Although, the frightened girl couldn't make out her face which had been hidden by shadows.

"Why?!" she demanded out of fear. "Why are you doing this to me?!"

"The mistress doesn't like it when patrons leave without paying. You should know better than that," the enigmatic girl said.

"Wait, I'll pay! I'll give you as much as you want! Please don't kill me!" She quickly pulled out her wallet and opened it to desperately search for some cash. Unfortunately, she spent all her money at the fair and didn't have a single yen to pay.

"You're flat?" the other girl inquired, her voice sounding a tad disappointed. "That's too bad. Guess you'll pay with a different currency then," she spoke softly before she whistled and snapped her fingers.

Hearing the ravens closing in, the victim rolled over and screamed as the dreadful creatures closed in on her.

…

"Wow…" Asmodeus slowly spun around as she and the others passed through the front gate. "This place is so incredible…" she murmured softly in awe of the attractions around them.

"It's so impressive," Beelzebub said, her eyes widening as she searched for good concession stands. "I hope the food is just as good."

"I so can't wait to see the petting zoo!" Leviathan chirped, her eyes shut tight as she cheerfully drew her arms close to her chest. "The map I read on the way over said it's somewhere over in that direction, just past the food court." She pointed to a somewhat crowded path to northeast of their position and started heading that way.

"Hey, wait for me!" the Stake of Gluttony called and ran after her. "I'm coming too! Should we stop at the food court and have lunch first?" she asked as they vanished in the crowd.

Lucifer sighed, but not in irritation. "It appears those two will have quite a bit of fun. I only hope they don't overboard by spending too much on food and expensive souvenirs."

"Who can blame them?" Belphegor inquired, turning to her eldest sister while crossing her arms. "It's expected they'll go a tad overboard at a place like this. Besides, it's not often we take trips to these kinds of events; I'd say they deserve to splurge a little if they find something that can't be found in stores."

The Stake of Pride nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I suppose we might as well let them have as much fun as they'd like. After all, this is a special occasion."

"Lucifer!"

The oldest Stake turned at the sound of Satan's voice. Her younger sister was standing in front of a message board with a map nailed on it to show directions of the whole meadow.

"I just found where the pottery is being displayed. It's just down this path over here."

"Alright, I'm coming. I'll be right there," she replied before looking at Ange. "We meet back here at nine tonight, correct?" When the witch nodded to confirm the appointed time, Lucifer bow her head in thanks and went off with Satan. "See you later!"

Now it was just the Stakes of Sloth, Greed, and Lust with Ange. Although, as two of them were briefly chatting about what Belphegor would do with Mammon, they soon noticed that one of them was currently absent.

"Hey, where'd Mammon go?" Asmodeus asked as she and the others looked around for the mischievous Stake.

"Wonderful…just great…" Ange muttered, putting a hand to her forehead. "I remind her to stay with Belphe just as we're getting out of the car and she up and goes off by herself." She sighed. "I probably should've called Haruka before we left."

"I'm sure I'll find her when I go looking. Hopefully she's not getting into any trouble," Belphegor stated before she turned to her right and saw Mammon sauntering over to them. "Never mind, here she is now."

"Jeez, Belphe, I've been calling you for the past couple minutes and you didn't even answer me," she grunted in annoyance, hands on her hips. "I'm starting to doubt whether you're responsible enough to keep me out of trouble."

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't hear you," the Stake of Sloth apologized. "I just talking with Ange about where you and I will be going. Have you found something already?"

"Yeah, a magic show," the Stake of Greed answered as she pointed at the back of the meadow. "It's just on the other side of this field and it starts in a half hour. Do you want to walk down there and find a spot to sit before all the good seats are taken?"

"Sure, if you don't mind checking some of the stalls on the way over."

"Okay, but let's not waste too much time. I'd like to get to the show as soon as possible."

"Fair enough," Belphegor replied then turned to Ange and Asmodeus. "Well, we're off," she said as the two of them walked away.

"See you soon!" Mammon waved at them before they were swallowed up by the crowd.

Ange sighed as she and Asmodeus watched them go, hoping the Stake of Greed wouldn't cause her older sister much trouble. Mammon could be like that sometimes, so it wasn't all too difficult to imagine her giving others a hard time others—especially when she usually instigated disputes between her siblings. Hopefully she'd keep Ange's earlier warning in mind while she was with Belphegor, or she'd be sorry.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Asmodeus said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You know that Mammon would never disobey you."

Ange turned and smiled at her little sister. "You're right, Asmo. I'm all too aware of her bad behavior, but perhaps I'll stop worrying over what she might do since I've given her quite the ultimatum before we left."

The Stake of Lust giggled in agreement. "Yeah, you sure did."

"Anyway," Ange got off the topic of Mammon in favor of changing the subject to what their plans would be, "where would you like to go first? This is a pretty big fair and we have the whole day to enjoy it, so let's make the most of it by having a good time."

"Can we go play some games?" Asmodeus suggested, happily bouncing around the witch because she loved playing with her big sister. "Can we go find the games, Ange?"

Ange laughed as she pulled the young Stake into a hug to keep her from bumping into people. "Whoa, careful, you almost knocked someone over."

Asmodeus scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "Oh, sorry, my bad."

"It's alright, Asmo," Ange patted the top of her head. "We can go find some games to play if you'd like," she said, taking the Stake's hand into her own so they could walk together without getting separated from one another.

The Stake of Lust giggled gleefully as the two of them starting off in one direction…

"Hey, don't forget about me. I'd like to play games too."

Before they shrieked in perfect sync as they jumped in fright when a certain someone put his arms around their shoulders from behind. Nearby onlookers heard and saw what happened, looking on with curiosity for a few brief seconds and then deciding it was just some harmless prank pulled by someone the girls knew.

Amakusa merely laughed at their terrified responses. "Wow, you both scare so easily! I'm surprised you didn't notice me coming from behind!"

Embarrassed that he made fools out of them in front of a crowd of strangers, their faces turned bright red as Ange's body tensed with rage. "A-Amakusa! I-I t-told you repeatedly not to s-scare us like that! You nearly gave us a-a heart attack, y-you jackass!" she screamed in rage as she and Asmodeus shivered fearfully, her voice as shaky as their bodies while she stuttered some of her words. Their arms were wrapped tightly around each other as the two of them breathed deeply. Each breathe came out in short jagged bursts as their heartbeats spiked in their chests.

"Whoa, calm down lady," Amakusa responded by putting his hands up in a defensive motion as he took a couple steps back to give the girls some personal space. "Sorry for the fright; it was a bad move on my part. I just wanted to partake in the fun, that's all."

"And you thought s-scaring us was the b-best way to go about it?!" Asmodeus joined in, her voice as livid as Ange's.

"Look, I said calm down," Amakusa grinned sheepishly. "You girls are making a scene."

That was the final straw that broke the camel's back—or in this case, the girls' calm demeanor if it could still be called that. Not only had Amakusa frightened them, but now he was also embarrassing them in front of everyone else. These people hadn't come to the fair to see an argument boil over in front of them; they wanted to have a good time. Although, some of them reveled in the moment by laughing at the girls as they struggled to regain their composure. Such attention was quite unnerving, and it was only infuriating them. This was it; they were going to deal with this dipshit now and leave the scene before becoming a laughingstock across the entire fair—no doubt the other Stakes would hear of it if word got out and spread too quickly.

"Alright, c'mon, I said I was sorry," Amakusa said, reinforcing his apology. "Why don't we all just forgot this happened and go have some fun, okay?"

In an instant he was lying on the ground in a cheerful daze with a bloody nose.

"Have your own damn fun!" Ange and Asmodeus shouted back as they stormed off to get away from Amakusa after punching him in the face.

The folks around them just stared for a moment before going about their business. They didn't want to get involved after they severely punished Amakusa for the fright he gave them. Fortunately for the girls, nearby security guards decided to let the issue slide since they knew who the true culprit of this little incident was.

However, there were two particular onlookers who observed the whole scene play out before their eyes and decided to just walk right by.

The first of them was another girl who had red eyes and long white hair with a red and white bow perched atop her head. Other bows of the same color were clipped to some hair that draped down by her front. She wore a white, buttoned shirt and red suspenders with an odd, red and white design on them. Her shoes also happened to be red, and they had white bows with red edges attached to them. As she walked by, Amakusa sat up to address her.

"Hey, babe, how about enjoying this lovely day with a guy like me?"

"Piss off, loser," she responded, stepping on top of his face with one foot to immediately push him back into the dirt.

The second onlooker had red eyes and wore a fancy, black school uniform with white frills at the end of her sleeves, a slim bowtie of the same color, and a red tie. She also had black stockings on her legs and wore red high heels. Her black hair done up into two pigtails styled like Beelzebub's, though this girl's pigtails were longer. The small bonnet on her head and the bows that held her pigtails in place were also white. Amakusa couldn't an attempt at her.

"Well, hello there, young lady. Care to—"

"Denied. I would never associate with someone as lowly as you, an F ranked individual," she retorted coldly while sauntering away.

This clearly wasn't Amakusa's day.

But little did they know that another girl witnessed what happened from the shadows of an information booth near a hotdog stand. She'd been nailing flyers to wooden posts erected throughout the fairgrounds for an attraction that would be taking place later that night. Giggling mischievously, she ran off to hang more flyers and hoped those four girls would show up later that night to continue the tale…and she would ensure they progressed to the first chapter.

…

**And that's the prologue of Corvus no Naku Koro ni. Feel free to let me know what you thought of it in a review.**

**Disclaimers:**

**I don't own Umineko no Naku Koro ni; it's owned by 007****th**** Expansion.**

**I don't own Dangan Ronpa; it's owned by Spike/Spike Chunsoft.**

**I don't own Touhou Project; it's owned by Team Shanghai Alice (ZUN to be more specific since he's the only member of the team) and Amusement Makers (the original developers of Touhou Project).**


End file.
